-LRB- Entertainment Weekly -RRB- -- `` Whip It ! '' suggests what might have happened if Juno had gone to a high school as poky as Napoleon Dynamite 's and decided that although her mother wanted her to be a beauty queen like Little Miss Sunshine , she 'd rather just strap on roller skates .

Ellen Page plays roller derby competitor Babe Ruthless in `` Whip It ! ''

Only here the petite , droll , feisty , Ellen Page-like heroine played by Ellen Page is named Bliss . And her idea of sass while chatting up a cute rocker -LRB- Landon Pigg -RRB- in this desexualized , slow-speed grrrl-power sports fantasy is `` I 'm Bliss , but I could change that . ''

Bliss does change her name , at least at the Roller Derby rink . She sneaks away from her square parents -LRB- Marcia Gay Harden as the U.S. Postal Service 's least likely mail carrier and Daniel Stern as a nice schlub who likes beer -RRB- to roll with a sisterly Austin team who call themselves the Hurl Scouts .

There , she dubs herself Babe Ruthless , making up in speed what she lacks in muscled aggression . She 's heck on wheels , or so we are asked to believe : The rink footage is pretty un-whippy .

Even Juliette Lewis , playing the film 's designated bad girl and Bliss/Babe 's nemesis on the rink , is more of a cute bee-yotch than a real threat .

The movie is Drew Barrymore 's directorial debut -LRB- she also plays fellow Hurl Scout Smashley Simpson -RRB- , and it 's clear she 's more attuned to grrrlishness than real athletic power : Smashley is the first to scream '' Food fight ! '' and the 34-year-old actress leads the charge in kidlike mayhem .

EW Grade : C +

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`` Whip It ! '' marks Drew Barrymore 's directorial debut

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Ellen Page plays woman who signs up for roller derby

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Film leans towards softness , which hurts impact of roller derby